Saturday, March 8, 2014

ON TOUR: IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOU BY JESSICA SCOTT [EXCERPT]

She plays by the rules . . .
Captain Ben Teague is many things: a tough soldier, a loyal friend, and a bona fide smart-ass. He doesn't have much tolerance for BS, which is why he's mad as hell when a trusted colleague and mentor is brought up on charges that can't possibly be true. He's even more frustrated with by-the-book lawyer Major Olivia Hale. But there's something simmering beneath her icy reserve-and Ben just can't resist turning up the heat . . .

. . . and he's determined to break themThe only thing riskier than mixing business with pleasure is enjoying it . . . and Olivia can't resist locking horns-and lips-with Ben. He's got more compassion in his little finger than any commander she's ever met, a fact that makes him a better leader than he realizes. But when the case that brought them together awakens demons from Olivia's past, she will have to choose between following orders-or her heart . . .

About Jessica Scott:

USA Today bestselling author Jessica Scott is a career army officer; mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs; wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she's a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well-adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.

She's written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View: Regarding War Blog, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas.

She's pursuing a PhD in Sociology in her spare time and most recently, she's been featured as one ofEsquire Magazine's Americans of the Year for 2012.

Olivia looked away. The first
packet was heavy in her hand. “The quick summary is that you have five drinking
and driving, two assaults, three hot urinalysis tests and five soldiers caught
with other intoxicating substances.”

“Define ‘other intoxicating substances’?
What the hell does that mean?”

“Huffing, spice, bath salts.”

“Bath salts? What the hell are bath
salts?”

Olivia pulled out her phone and
pulled up a website explaining the drug. “They’re really new but we’re starting
to see more of them. They’re meant to be a synthetic drug that mimics cocaine
and ecstasy but they’re really bad stuff. Some of it is variants of plant
food.”

Ben reached for her phone and
angled it so he could see. His hand was big and rough against hers. Hot where
their skin met. If he noticed, he didn’t give any indication. “Plant food?”

Olivia tried to ignore how his hand
felt against hers. Because, oh yes, she’d noticed. Heat spread across her skin,
sliding up her forearm and tingling down her spine. “Soldiers will smoke anything
these days,” she said quietly.

“Why?”

“That’s a whole ’nother
discussion,” she said, easing her hand out of his. “The short version is that
intoxicating substances are prohibited by regulation and I advise you to do two
things with these kids: send a strong message that this behavior won’t be
tolerated but also enroll them into drug abuse counseling to send a message
that you’ll help those who want it.”

Ben studied the paperwork in front
of him. Tormented emotions flickered over his face and it was everything she
could do not to ask him what was on his mind. She didn’t have time or reason to
go crawling around Ben Teague’s head but that didn’t stop the want pulsing
warmly over her skin.

“I know this kid,” Ben said
quietly. “I served with him downrange last deployment but ever since he’s come
home, he’s been nothing but trouble to the old commander. Zittoro has three
previous drug charges,” he said.

“Private Zittoro is a different
case. I recommend you separate him from the military under a chapter nine, rehab
failure.”

She heard his quick intake of
breath. Saw the conflict flicker over his sharp features.

He cleared his throat roughly in
the awkward silence. “Zittoro… he’s got nowhere to go. He’s got a deadbeat dad
and his mom is… well, she’s not winning any parent of the year awards.” His
fist clenched on the table in front of her. “If I throw him out of the army,
what happens to him? He’s an addict.”

She flinched at the pain in his
words. Ben had only been a commander for a couple of hours but the strain was
already obvious in his voice.

“You can’t save everyone,” she
whispered. She waited until his eyes met hers.

“You know that, right?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

There was no comfort she could
offer. This was the burden of command: to balance the needs of the army over
the needs of the individual. A tightrope he had to walk alone.

All she could do was give him the
facts and her opinion. But in that moment, she had the sudden urge to save him
from this. “If you keep him, do you have the manpower to keep going to his room
and making sure he hasn’t overdosed every night? Do you trust him enough to
give him a weapon and believe he’ll do his job?”

Ben’s throat moved as he swallowed.
“Guess not,” he said quietly. He leaned back and it was as if a wall of glass
crystallized between them. “What other fun things do you have in there for me?”

Olivia wasn’t convinced by the
sudden shift in Ben’s mood but now wasn’t the time or the place for digging any
deeper. She reviewed the rest of the drug packets, watching him tense more with
each one. She stopped after the last driving under the influence.

“Why is this bothering you so
much?”

He offered a half-assed cocky
grimace that failed to mimic the smile he was going for. A pretty shitty
attempt to cover the darkness twisting beneath the surface. He took a deep
breath. “I’m a big boy. I’ll do what has to be done.”

“I didn’t imply that you wouldn’t.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not bothering you.”

He drummed his fingers on the
table. “Let’s finish this up. I’ve got to get down to my company and start
digging out from the mountain of crap that my predecessor left me.”

He brushed her off. The action was
as insignificant as a paper cut.

She leaned back and picked up the
next packet and wished it didn’t sting like it did. Then she made the mistake
of meeting his gaze. There was such a dark lack of hope in his eyes. A bleak
resignation to the things he was forced to confront. She almost reached for his
hand. It would have been a simple gesture of support. But he looked at her as
though a single touch might have shattered him.

He was not her problem. She didn’t
do damaged and introspective.

Because there were people counting
on her not to get distracted.

But looking
at him now, she wondered about the glimpse of the tired warrior she saw behind
those tormented brown eyes.